LauraT7

Laurie - I'm a little overweight, too - and no one would call the uniforms flattering, but if you've ever been to a scout roundtable or adult training session - you would get an eyeful of the typical male scout leader - waistband of the scout pants lost low under a belly where the shirt buttons are straining to meet the buttonholes. the thread they use to sew those BSA uniforms rarely breaks - it's usually the fabric that gives up the fight first! however - you have a good point - if you are female and can wear the male shirt - being able to pass it on to the troop uniform closet is a b

leadership positions can be difficult to get if you are in a troop that has alot of boys that need them. we are at that point now - over half our boys NEED POR's to advance to the next rank, and there aren't that many available. sure, you can make them all Instructors or Den cheifs (and in the case of Den Cheifs and working parents, somehow they've got to GET TO the Den meetings, too!) But some are just not cut out to guide or teach younger boys. I think that is why it is left to SM discretion to 'create' PORS in some cases. We've always elected all positions except assis

thanks for the input, folks! and yes, Mark, I DO have "some Mom!" I was very lucky to have been raised by parents who BOTH supported me in my scouting experiences as a kid (My Mom AND Dad were co-leaders of my Girl Scout Troop) - and who continued to support my son and myself when we both got involved in Cub Scouts and then, Boy Scouts. When my Dad died and the church asked what we would like done with the money given, my Mom liked my suggestion of giving it to Mike's project rather than have it dissappear into some general fund or have it go towards something mundane like hy

i like the idea of having the rank above make the awards to the next lower rank - that's a good one i will have to suggest to our SPL. We have a number of computer-literate boys in our troop - at least, some who understand Power Point - I bet they could come up with a good presentation using all the photos we've taken and perhaps some music, too - I'd like to see the boys do more - skits, music, something more entertaining than a skit worked out just before the COH starts. Perhaps have then show or tell about a badge they've worked on together? have to think about that one.... it

ok - here's one i love - but i swear there is another verse to it - must be, as it's supposed to be a canadian voyagers song, and they went on and on... My heart has but one home, From which I'll never roam, Land of true happiness, Canadian wilderness. The call of the lonely loon, coyotes howlin' at the moon, wind whispering thru the trees, thats the canadian breeze, Smoke rising from the fire, up thru the trees in a stately spire, sun goes down,the evening glows, through the trees the north wind blows. My heart has but one home, From which I'll

Oh - I like the way you think! Can i keep going from where you left off? i would try to include Surprises and challenges along the trail - a log or rope bridge across a creek, gully or marshy area. (built by scouts, of course) Maybe a crossing where they had to wade.... perhaps a lashed lookout tower to climb? to me and my son - no summer camp and many weekend programs are not as fun if they don't include water - REAL water - not a chlorinated pool. with fish and frogs and critters in it. Now, if that trial went along a river or a lake - preferably in Wisconsin where most

We have many adults in our troop who really push minimal camping and leave-no trace. I agree with the intent - but young boys want the romance of facing things on their own - at least PRETENDING that they are facing the wilds on their own! and building a fire against the elements is a part of that romance... although our boys all know how to build a fire - they have done most of their cooking over a stove - and do not plan the time, nor have the patience to cook over a fire. Most of our campouts are so jam packed with activity - they simply do not have time to hang around camp t

In our troop, it seems that the Advancement chair and the adults have always run the quarterly court of honors. the boys may do skits, or present special awards sometimes - but mostly, they are a litany of talk - "Advancing to the rank of Tenderfoot are Bobby, joe, Tim and fred" they come up front, get their pins & patches and Mom pins it on, everyone claps ans they sit down. The next rank is announced. "Advancing to the rank of Second class are john, greg, luke Nathan and jeremy" - same scene. Then they go through each camp or activity and who attended and pass out patches and atten

sometimes i think our troop has MANY programs - there's MY program - which sorta goes along with their program - and then theres HER program, and HIS program - and hey - what about the BOY's program? oh, yeah. that's what we're here for - right? Well we finally have a SM who is doggedly backing the boys and pushing the committee back in their proper place. right now, it seems to be his primary job to mediate between the committee who wants to control everything like they used to - and the boys, some of which are SLOWLY taking ownership back of THEIR troop. Sadly, some are just

My Mom and I have been invited to the Eagle Court of Honor of a Boy in my son's troop. The COH is at his church, where his project was done and where we are members, also. I was invited because i am an active leader in the troop and my son worked on this boy's Eagle project, though i have not worked with the boy myself - he was pretty much done by the time I became active. My Mom was invited because she directed monetary gifts given to our church at my Dad's funeral toward his Eagle project (a waterfall, landscaping and retention pond on the church grounds) I suspect that the maj

I came up through girl Scouts - though I am now a Boy Scout leader - because I have a son and not a daughter. I had 'normal' sized troops through Jr. high - 20 or more girls. My mom lead Jr's - but i went into a troop in another area in Cadettes, and another leader - my mom worked on district stuff while i was in jr. high. In high School, we didn't have enough leaders, lots of girls had dropped out - so my mom AND DAD became co-leaders of our small troop. we had 7 - 9 girls most of the time. for us, because of the leadership we had, this actually worked very well - we got to go m

Someone recently wrote me asking if I ever found an answer to a request for plans for patrol boxes - since many troops use them, i thought i would post the ones I found here - incase anyone else was interested - We were looking at building or buying chuck boxes, and I pulled anything remotely useful. My son and i like to build stuff, and with that in mind, I pulled ideas from both pre-made plastic units and hand built plans. We never did actually get new boxes, and i think we are going toward using rubbermade totes or something, as every campout with us has different equipment needs

Well, here's the whole story - As I said, i was not at the COH, as my back was so bad i was snapping at everyone - I just wanted to be with my chiro and my ice pack. i guess I'm a little testy' when my back hurts... by the time the CC called me back, I had seen my Chiropracter & cooled my jets some.... It seems that the new ADV Coord. thought that by sending in the advancement records, that the advancement paperwork also ordered the badges. But there was a separate form for ordering badges that he did not send in. when he called to check on status of our 'order' because he h

Actually, the license plate came ahead of the name - it's easy to remember..... the number was assigned by the state of illinois.... But hey, if any of you are ever in Blackhawk Council, and see a white van with that license plate - flag me down and say hello!

My son was delighted with this month's Boy's Life - he loves all of them anyway, and reads them cover to cover. but this month's feature story is about a former scout who makes backpacks and who made his FIRST backpack as a scout years ago. it shows that there IS some interest and usefullness in having a sewing badge at least available to the boys. there is also a small page on basic hand sewing skills - how to hem, stitch a seam and sew a button. It's a great article - if your family doesn't get Boy's Life (if you are one of many dedicated scouters without a boy cu

perhap you should include a 'job description' and a 'chain of command' for advancement and badge work - such as - -Who is the advancement chair and what is their job, -What a badge counselor is and how to find one, and - -WHY we use badge counselor instead of having leaders or parent sign off -what leaders and Sr. boys can sign off on advancements in your troop. -what committee members might make up a board of review - (and why committe members aren't supposed to sign off on advancements, and why SM's and ASM don't sit boards of review) -what is the difference between Rank Advancem

I think i get the gist of this - but I sometimes need things spelled out in one-syllable sentences.... can someone filter out the PR-speak for me? 1. - Does this mean that if a scout or scout leader gets his Red cross lifeguard certification, then he is also recognised as being a BSA life guard for the purposes of Safety Afloat and Safe Swim requirements? 2.- or does it just mean that if you take the BSA lifeguard training (which I think is a bit more extensive than the red cross requirements) then Red cross recognises you as a RC certified Lifeguard? and allows BSA to act as it's

Hi! and WELCOME! We would LOVE to have more 'scouts' on this board! and as HopsScout mentioned, we would love to see you on the MSN board / chat as well. the MSN board is not as active as this one, and IS commercially sponsored by MSN - so please do use caution - but you will see many of the same people in both places, because they have chat capabilities this board doesn't have. the complement each other. As a scout leader and parent of a 13 yr old 'almost' Star - i am always interested in the opinions and views from your side of the program. Hops has been very active h

purpose of knots? In the days in which those requirement were put into the program, those knots had a very GOOD purpose - which is why I remember and have TRULY MASTERED them - from my days as a Girl Scout - those knots were USED on every campout, with the kind of tents and equipment we had. And a Bowline ALWAYS has a purpose - someday, almost everyone will have need to tie a knot that will not slip and untie - and a Bowline is IT. Do you want to be looking for a book for a 'refresher' when one of your kids is slipping down the side of a ravine? or would you rather just wait for the pa

Hops - i had to laugh at your response - the adv chair IS an overgrown boy - 36 yr old, single and lives at home with his mom - the Charter rep. she is a driving force in our troop. but she is also computer-phobic, very old fashioned - and all our records are on troopmaster. He WANTS to do alot for the troop - but is really poor at follow through (and as the queen of disorganization, I KNOW that of which I speak!) Eisley - I have pushed for a meeting or something with the troop parents. the SM agrees with me - the CC does, too - but they have not made the effort

My son chose to have his badges sewn on in the order he earned them - but since they are awarded in groups, he may get anywhere from 2 - 8 in one COH. So we have a little leeway room for 'arrangement'. he has the Eagle required badges down the center row of his sash - electives on the outside boarders. We started at about the height of the shirt pocket. the suggestion about taking a 'tuck' in the top of the longer badge sash at the shoulder and later letting it out is a good one - it is unobtrusive and saves ALOT of re-sewing later.

the other day a parent came up to me and told me that I really needed to 'get on' our Adv coord because he wasn't keeping up with the boy's advancements. I am NOT the SM of our troop, but i am a really active adult leader, and many parents have had alot of contact with me because I have been the Activities Coordinator for a couple of years. So, since i am not the SM, and it was only one parent, I just pointed out that they needed to talk to Mr W (Committee Chair and Mr M (SM)and went on. later i overheard some other parents gripingabout him - but since the person who is Adv. Coord is a frien

in case anyone would like to see our photos of the trip - here's a link to our troop website photo album - hope it works! http://groups.msn.com/BSATroop159Woodstock/wisconsinrivertrip2003.msnw?Page=1

Last weekend a handful of older scouts and 4 leaders set out to travel 25 miles down the Wisconsin River and camp out on it's many sandbars. the trip was everything that I remembered from my scout trips down it as a kid. We had terrific weather; balmy days and cool clear nights, no bugs to speak of, good company, good fun and no one dumped their canoe! the boys learned how to 'read' the water, and by the second day, they didn't run aground & have to 'walk' the canoes across quite as many sandbars as on the first day! The nights were so clear, that both nights we simply h

Sad as it is, boys are STILL boys, and many of these 'elected' positions go by popularity, or what is 'expected' of them, rather than the boys actually taking into consideration who would be a 'good' SPL (or any other position, for that matter) This frustrates me no end - because I see boys or their parents pushing them for POR's just because they 'need' them for rank advancement, rather than because they are interested in or capable of doing that particular job. And I see other boys making decisions on who to elect - based not on ability - but on who their friends are, or who's 'bad si